


Field Trip

by spikewriter



Series: Seven Years in the Desert Extras [3]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, word of the day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 09:51:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spikewriter/pseuds/spikewriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Word of the Day ficlet in the Seven Years-verse, set after Spike has joined the Council of Watchers. Spike and Anderson, a combat instructor for the Council, take a small pack of potentials on a field trip. August 4, 2005 word of the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Field Trip

**Author's Note:**

> The character of Anderson is — and always was — a tribute to the late, great Bob Anderson who died January 1, 2012.

expatiate \ek-SPAY-shee-ayt\, intransitive verb:  
1\. To speak or write at length or in considerable detail.  
2\. To move about freely; to wander. 

Expatiate is from Latin expatiari, "to walk or go far and wide," from ex-, "out" + spatiari, "to walk about," from spatium, "space; an open space, a place for walking in."

****

Midnight in London. The clubs were going full strength and the streets teeming with people out looking for a good time -- not exactly the environment one might envision for a school outing. For a passel of potential slayers, however, it was perfect. "Just because there is a large crowd," Anderson said as the girls trailed along after him, "you shouldn't let yourself think there aren't any vampires or demons about. Venues like this are perfect feeding grounds for your average vampire."

"Your average vampire with slightly above-average intelligence," Spike amended. "The average fledge isn't going to have the smarts to manuever through a crowd like this without raising a ruckus."

The girls nodded as they took in his words and several dutifully scribbled notes on the pads they'd brought along. Ah, the joy of young potentials; one could expatiate all one wanted they would treat every word as if it were gold. Probably not a good idea to tell them how he used to go about stalking his victims in such situations.

"Dr. Ashbury-Smythe is correct; the most common practice of a vampire is to seek victims who place themselves in situation where they are easily caught -- dark alleyways, cemetaries..."

"Couples who are more interested in one another than what's going on around them are always popular target, especially if a couple of fledges team up."

"In choosing his victim from a crowd such as this one," Anderson continued, "the vampire must lure them, often literally seducing their victim to get them away from the crowd."

More notes, accompanied by a few giggles. These were the ones who had just come of age, their potential newly awakened and a few of them were barely into puberty, with any sexual reference a source of deliciously forbidden amusement. Others merely rolled their eyes as such "immature" behavior.

One of the girls timidly raised her hand. "Um, Mr. Anderson?"

"Yes, Nicole?"

"Why would someone leave a club or their friends to go with someone they didn't know?"

Anderson blinked, clearly at a loss for words. Spike tried not to laugh, memories of Victorian social mores and what women were -- and were not -- told about what passed between men and women. "Told you we should have brought Charlotte along."


End file.
